Laura Lootens - Diabolico (2025) [Hi-Res] [Dolby Atmos]

Tracklist

01. Violin Sonata in G Minor, B.g5 Il trillo del diavolo: I. Larghetto affettuoso (Arr. for Solo Guitar by Roberto Zadra)
02. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 1. Allegro energico
03. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 2. Presto
04. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 27. Aria
05. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 7 after Beethoven, Op. 74 [Scherzo]. Presto
06. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 5. Poco agitato ma con molto rubato
07. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 12 after Brahms, Op. 35 [Book 1, No. 12]. Andante con moto
08. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 44 after Mahler, Symphony No. 5 [Scherzo]. Scherzo
09. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 43. Andantino
10. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 20. Quasi cadenza
11. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 22. Molto espressivo e cantando
12. Caprice Variations for Unaccompanied Violin (Transcr. for Solo Guitar by Eliot Fisk): Variation 51. Paganini's theme [Caprice XXIV]. Quasi presto
13. Grand Sonata per chitarra e violino in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3 (Arr. for Solo Guitar by Laura Lootens) in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3: I. Allegro risoluto
14. Grand Sonata per chitarra e violino in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3 (Arr. for Solo Guitar by Laura Lootens) in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3: II. Romanza
15. Grand Sonata per chitarra e violino in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3 (Arr. for Solo Guitar by Laura Lootens) in A Major, Op. 39, MS 3: III. Andantino variato
16. Capriccio diabolico, Op. 85a (Omaggio a Paganini)
17. Due canzoni lidie: I. Espressivo
18. Due canzoni lidie: II. Agitato
19. Invocación y danza. Homenaje a Manuel de Falla

Laura Lootens’s first collaboration with naïve, ‘Diabolico’ leads us into a world of strange tales and pacts with the devil and other ghostly apparitions which actually form the core of a magnificent journey in sound, covering an extremely varied range of styles.

A soothingly tranquil introduction, the opening movement of The Devil’s Trill Sonata of Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770) here serves as a prelude to the transformations of the last of Paganini's Caprices, the supreme incarnation in music of the devil, composed by George Rochberg (1918–2005).

These Caprice Variations make up an intriguing musical kaleidoscope of fifty-one variations which sometimes remind one of Bach, Brahms, or indeed Paganini's own wild flashes of lightning, yet they are also founded upon more modern, even experimental ideas - a captivating play between past and present which Laura Lootens represents here with eleven of her favourite movements.

Afterwards comes a work by Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) himself, the Grand Sonata for violin and guitar, played here by guitar alone. In this piece, the fruit of an utterly devilish joke, Paganini made sure that the more difficult part was given to the guitar, with the violin in fact playing only a simple accompaniment.

The second part of this journey occupies more modern terrain, with three important large scale works for guitar. With its disjointed rhythms, its exaggerated dynamic contrasts, and its sudden changes of mood, the Capriccio diabolico by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968) combines scorching energy and delicately hued melodies. The Due canzoni lidie by Nuccio D’Angelo (born in 1955), with its heady poetic sensibility, evokes two complementary aspects of some ancient, forgotten, but evidently magical world. Finally, the German guitarist, who won the Premier Prix at the Concours Andrés Segovia in 2022, offers the indispensable and intoxicating Invocación y danza by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999), a diptyque inspired by the flamenco tradition, its initial desperate supplication (Invocación) followed by an explosion of rhythm (Danza) as intense as it is tragic.

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